Call It Mother's Instinct
by Bamimilyt6
Summary: Dipper and Mabel wake up in the middle of the night due to some annoying knocking at the door of the Mystery Shack. The elderly New Jerseyan woman at the door seems to recognise the twins, causing them to grow suspicious. She says she's looking for Stanford Pines, but can she be trusted? [Ma Pines reunites with Stan and Ford. Three-Shot. Rated T because I'm paranoid.]
1. Part One

**Part One**

One week. Dipper couldn't believe they only had one week left in Gravity Falls, one week left of summer. With all the weirdness that went on in the allegedly sleepy town, the break felt like it should've been infinite… He wanted it to be infinite. He wanted more mysteries to solve and creatures to face, but he knew all that would eventually have to come to an end. The big mystery of Gravity Falls had been solved, and summer break was almost over. In seven short days he and his twin sister Mabel would be on a bus back to the normalcy of Piedmont, California. He once liked the calming ordinary nature of his hometown, but after this summer… it wouldn't be the same.

Their time left in Oregon was finite. _One week._

The daunting thought kept him awake.

Regardless, the soon to be thirteen year old tossed and turned in his bed, trying his best to sleep. He just couldn't seem to shut off his brain. If his mind wasn't on leaving Gravity Falls, it was on Bill Cipher, fearing the demon may return and haunt his dreams indefinitely. He couldn't live with the insomnia and paranoia that beast caused for the rest of his life, especially not during school. And what about Mabel? What about Stan and Ford? The rest of the people in the zodiac? The townspeople of Gravity Falls? What would Bill do to _them_ -

 _KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK._

Dipper's heart skipped a beat as he suddenly sat up in his bed, all of his attention suddenly being turned to what he'd just heard. What _was_ that?

 _KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK._

 _Knocking? In the middle of the night? Who would be at the Mystery Shack of all places in the middle of the night? ...Or what. It's probably a what. But what_ kind _of what would be here so late?_ He traced through his memories for all the bizarre creatures he'd met over the summer. Since Journal 3 wasn't in his immediate possession, he didn't exactly have a better reference.

 _KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK._

He couldn't think. The knocking was so incessant and loud; he was almost surprised it hadn't woken up Stan, Ford, or Mabel yet. He grumbled slightly, lying back down and putting his pillow over his ears. Maybe if he just ignored the person, they would go away.

 _KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK._

"Dipper, stooop that," mumbled Mabel from under her pillow.

"It's not me," Dipper responded, tiredly muddling together his words. He turned his head so his twin could hear him more clearly. "Someone's knocking on the door to the Shack."

 _KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK._

Mabel groaned, rolling off her bed. Dipper sat up, watching his sister groggily walk over to the door of the attic. "Mabel, what are you doing? If we ignore them maybe they'll realize we're _closed_ and _asleep_ ," he whispered, rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah, or they'll keep banging on the door until all of us are awake!" She yawned at the end of her exasperated sentence.

Dipper crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "You're seriously going to go down there and get yelled at by the crazy person who's about to knock down the front door of this place?" he asked, sleepily raising an eyebrow.

"It's Gravity Falls, Dipper. Everyone here loves us! Besides, I think the town is still recovering from…" She paused, her breath shaking slightly. "' _You-Know-What._ '"

 _KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK._

He knew exactly what 'You-Know-What' was… Weirdmageddon. No one liked to bring it up, and it was basically illegal to, so it wasn't necessarily discussed much. It was very emotionally traumatic nonetheless, _especially_ for the Pines family. There were many points when he thought he or those he cared about would die.

" _I think I'm gonna kill one of 'em now just for the heck of it!"*******_

His breath hitched a bit as well, causing him to pause. He didn't want to think about it.

 _KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK._

"Besides, maybe they're just confused and need directions," Mabel finally continued, regaining a more happy (yet still tired) demeanor. "If they walked off and died in the woods then it would be your fault!"

"If it means I can get some sleep," Dipper sleepily muttered to himself, not really meaning the words that came out. However, in the quiet of the night, his sister could hear him clearly. She shot him a disapproving glance. "Why would someone stop at the _Mystery Shack_ of all places for directions?" he asked a little louder.

Mabel seemed to ignore this question as she turned to exit their attic room. Dipper sighed. There was really no way of changing her mind, was there? Reluctantly, he got out of bed. His vision blackened for a moment, but after blinking a few times, it returned. He then followed his sister out of their attic room, through the living area of the shack, and into the gift shop, all while the knocking continued to grow louder.

 _KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK._

Dipper stood beside his sister as she opened the beaten door to the Mystery Shack. A chilling breeze immediately entered the warm gift shop. "Hello there!" Mabel greeted somewhat louder than she should have, yawning afterwards. On the porch stood a tired old woman, her arm high from repeatedly banging on the door. She raised the brow on her wrinkled face in shock upon seeing the twins. Slowly, she lowered her arm as she stared at the two, her breathing growing more shaky.

Dipper noticed her bewildered staring, and coupling that with all the knocking, he grew suspicious. Mabel, on the other hand, noticed her lack of coat and how her breath condensated in the cold air. She gasped. "You have to be freezing!" she exclaimed, only to immediately be shushed by her brother. "Here, here, here," she said, grabbing the woman by her thin, jewelry covered wrists, dragging her inside.

The woman stumbled in, nearly tripping over a loose board in the floor. Even still, her eyes never left the twins. Mabel smiled at the woman. "You're welcome for the gift of heat!" she said triumphantly as Dipper closed the door. The latter then slowly walked over to his sister, trying to rub the tiredness out of his eyes.

The woman gave Mabel a strange look before saying, "Thank you." It was quite obvious she had a New Jerseyan accent, even if it was slight. There was a small glint of recognition in her eyes, as if Mabel's antics reminded her of someone. The woman's gaze shifted over to Dipper, as she noticed his tousled hair was now somewhat pushed out of his face, revealing a portion of his birthmark. It was then she stepped back, her shoes making a very audible clicking noise. "I thought it was... Oh, it has to be," she muttered cryptically. She paused, staring at them for a second longer. "...Mason 'n' Mabel."

The twins looked at each other, and then back at the woman. Dipper _knew_ something was up with her! "Come again?" Mabel asked, confounded.

"...Mason 'n' Mabel. Shermie's grandkids…," she continued to mutter to herself, much like Ford or Dipper would do if they had a just unraveled a big revelation. Perhaps she had the same habit? Dipper didn't think it was a coincidence.

"How do you know our names?" Mabel questioned, growing both weirded out and curious. How _did_ she know? She even knew Dipper's real name, something not a lot of people knew (outside of family) in Gravity Falls.

There was a pause. The woman straightened herself, wiping the surprise off her face in an instant. Such emotion had been replaced with a stern look. It was very intimidating. The action reminded the twins about how both their grunkles could do the exact same thing, and they could do it _well_. _It can't be a coincidence… It just can't be_ , Dipper thought, trying desperately to focus on reality and his racing thoughts at the same time.

"I'm a psychic, kid. 'Course I know your names,"she brushed off nonchalantly.

Dipper narrowed his eyes. He didn't rule out the possibility of her legitimately being a psychic (Gravity Falls was just the place for that kind of weirdness to appear), but she just didn't seem like one. She had a weird aura about her, but it didn't seem like a supernatural one. No, it seemed like something else, something more...

The boy shared a glance with Mabel, guessing that she was likely having a similar thought process to him. After all, with all that had happened with Gideon Gleeful, a sour taste had been left in her mouth for psychics, especially phony ones.

Dipper returned his gaze to the old woman in front of them. "Then what else do you know about us?" he questioned. He crossed his arms, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"Listen, kid. If you wanna prediction or somethin' here, you're gonna haveta fess up some cash," she responded without missing a beat. Yet another similarity he noticed the woman shared with his grunkles; or, at least one of them, anyway. Putting unnecessary and (likely) costs on things… Not to mention he could draw some physical similarities between this woman and her grunkles. It _couldn't_ be a coincidence.

"Say, let me guess, you two got two great uncles on your father's side, huh? Younger brothers of your grandpa, twins?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips and holding a semi-fake smile, almost a salesman smile.

"Why do you want to know?" Dipper countered, crossing his arms. His trust in this woman had been on a steady decline ever since she knew their names (his real name, no less!), but now that she expressed knowledge of their grunkles, somehow… He knew she wasn't what she seemed.

But who _was_ she?

"Got business with one of them," she said without hesitation, the statement seeming purposefully devoid of emotion.

 _Nope! Nope, nope, nope!_ Red flags were going off in his head. "Business" meant a lot of things. It was when Stan tricked money out of tourists, when Ford was dealing with supernatural beings, when Bill Cipher took up his unfair end of a deal. Dipper didn't trust that whatever "business" was for this woman would be good.

While Dipper continued with his paranoiac over thinking, Mabel piped up, "And that business isssss…?"

"About sciences you couldn't wrap your minds around for years," she said, almost condescendingly. Her hand gestures completely dismissed the notion that it could be otherwise.

Such confidence in that statement was a fatal mistake on the woman's part, for it was the straw that broke the camel's back for Dipper's suspicions. She wasn't a psychic. He looked over at Mabel, who looked back with a shared smirk, showing she was having a similar train of thought.

Both twins looked back at the woman, who still gave them a look that gave her a sense of authority. Mabel was the first to speak, stepping forward in a confrontational manner. "If you were _really_ a psychic, you would know that Dipper's a huge nerd…!" she exclaimed with a victorious tone. The woman's face fell almost instantly at the accusation.

Dipper's face faltered slightly, looking over at Mabel with a slightly betrayed expression. "Mabel…" he muttered to his sister, but she simply continued without acknowledging his negligible embarrassment.

"…And thus knows a lot of complex science stuff!" Mabel concluded, her voice bouncing off the walls. The thought of their grunkles sleeping had completely disappeared.

Dipper shook his head, standing up straighter to show his self-assurance. "Yeah! Anything you could ask either of them, I can answer," he said, crossing his arms. He added a quieter "probably" under his breath, knowing that statement was, for the most part, untrue. "So, how do you _really_ know our names?"

The woman looked taken back. "Either… of them? You mean, they're both alive?" she asked gingerly, as if she didn't believe the words coming out of her mouth.

"Don't ignore the question! You were knocking on our door nonstop and then lied to us about how you know about our names and family!" Dipper practically shouted, forgetting to keep himself quiet as a courtesy to his sleeping grunkles.

"Yeah! You owe us some answers!" Mabel agreed, pointing at the lady in accusation and yawning afterwards.

Shock returned to the woman's face, albeit in a slightly more hysterical matter this time. "No, you don't understand," she said quickly. " _Either of them_ … that's what you said. Then that means…" she trailed off. Her facial expression grew to a mixture of surprise and happiness. She looked down at the floor, babbling to herself once more. "Oh, I knew Stanley wasn't dumb enough to get himself in a stupid fatal car crash…! He's alive… Oh, both my boys are _alive_!"

The twins started at her for a moment as tears of joy began to roll down the old woman's cheeks. Dipper's eyes widened, the cogs in his mind turning. The woman's words echoed in his mind. With all that had happened, they could only mean one thing. He glanced between the woman and door that lead to the living area of the house, where Ford and Stan were sleeping. He almost didn't want to believe it upon remembering his grunkles telling them the story of their childhood. But it made sense; oh, it made perfect sense… Finally…

" _Ma was a pathological liar, which served her well as a phone psychic."_

…it clicked.

Dipper stared at the woman as Mabel went up to hug her. He guessed that his own sister's suspicions had disappeared in a similar way to his own, figuring out the mystery. The woman hugged her back tight, the action acting like an unspoken apology of sorts. After a short, warm silence, the two let go.

"Good hugs," Mabel said satisfactorily. The woman wiped away her tears. "So you're Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford's mom?" the young girl asked blatantly, yet gently.

"Yes," the woman (or Mrs. Pines, rather) answered in a voice that was almost a whisper. She opened her mouth, only to close it again and repeat what she had previously said. Dipper noticed this and raised an eyebrow, but quickly snapped out of his own thoughts. _She's family! She just wants to find her sons! What harm could that possibly bring?_ He couldn't think of anything, but something was nagging at him, a small mystery he needed to figure out.

"So that makes you our great grandmother!" Mabel said excitedly with a smile on her face. She threw her hands up in the air, the sleeves of her oversized night shirt dangling. "Man, what are the odds?" she stated to no one in particular.

Dipper smiled in spite of his paranoid thoughts. "Yeah, finding two family members we didn't know about in one summer. Crazy, right?" he said to his sister. Though, he had to admit, coming out of a secret portal that had the potential to destroy the universe was a bit cooler than through the creaky almost broken door of the Mystery Shack.

Mrs. Pines looked at the twins with a very confused stare. "Finding… two family members? What're you talkin' about? ...Did something happen with Stanley, or Stanford?" she asked, growing worrisome.

"No!" Mabel immediately said, her eyes wide. Dipper snapped her head towards her just as she began to sputter to contradict herself. "Yes! Well, technically… technically it's a yes. But- but don't worry! Everyone's fine now!"

Dipper sighed as Mabel looked down and started to play with her hair. He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. He gave his grandmother an exasperated look. "It's a long story," Dipper said in a tired voice. "And you have some explaining to do, too."


	2. Part Two

**Part Two**

"I can't believe this… Oh, you've all been through so much," Mrs. Pines said, looking down at the rugged floors with her fingers resting on her forehead.

Dipper and Mabel had brought Mrs. Pines into the living area of the house, figuring it would be better for their great grandmother to sit down, for various reasons. The tale of the two Stans wasn't exactly short by any stretch of the word, nor was it necessarily the most happy-go-lucky story to be told. Relocating seemed to be a good call, for throughout the whole retelling of their grunkles' pasts, Mrs. Pines seemed to be paralyzed by shock. The look didn't wipe off her face until Dipper assured her of her sons' reconciliation.

And so sat Mrs. Pines in Stan's chair, which was still slightly covered in debris from the remaining remnants of Weirdmageddon. Dipper and Mabel each sat on an chair arm, watching as their poor grandmother tried to comprehend all the trials and tribulations her sons went through.

"Wait, so you believe us?" he asked in slight confusion. Dipper half-expected her to think they were insane when they finished retelling the backstory they had heard merely weeks before, along with their own summer adventures in the lumber town. The strange stories of Gravity Falls weren't exactly that plausible to those who hadn't experienced them firsthand.

Mrs. Pines sighed, looking up at Dipper, her fingers still placed on her right temple. "Look here, kid," she said, a bored expression on her face. "I'm old and desperate. What do I have to lose?" she inquired, her only expression change being the raising of an eyebrow.

"Fair point, fair point," Dipper responded. A silence overcame them for a small moment. Mabel rubbed the tiredness out of her eyes, while Dipper continued to look at Mrs. Pines as she looked back down at the floor. Did she still need time to take everything in?

"No one should have to go through that," the old woman said bitterly, now resting her head on her hand. Dipper guessed she was talking about Weirdmageddon. "Being scared out of your wits, not knowing if you're going to see tomorrow… You're not war soldiers! I can't believe you kids went through all that. I can't believe my boys went through that…" She trailed off wistfully, staring at the doorway. "...I'm sorry."

"Don't sweat it!" Mabel said, a small smile growing on her face. "We defeated Bill, and everyone's okay. So it's okay!" At that, Mrs. Pines returned such a smile. Mabel was always an optimist on a quest to keep everyone happy, and Dipper knew well she wasn't going to let family stay upset.

Another quietude fell among the three, a more pleasant one than the last. It felt like forever, but Dipper didn't want to rush anything. He couldn't even begin to imagine her internal thoughts and feelings on all this. Thus they sat in silence until Dipper looked at the clock, seeing it read 2:43 AM. As much as he knew his grandmother would need time to digest everything, he also knew that he was tired. He needed her side of the story.

"So, uhm…" Dipper coughed, awkwardly. "Do you mind… explaining what's gone on with you ever since, uhm… Stan was kicked out? Why didn't you stop him from leaving?" He paused for a moment, holding his breath and rethinking his choice. After everything they had just told, was reliving the past even more a good idea? Maybe he should have waited until morning, until she actually saw her sons…

Mrs. Pines stiffened, sitting up in the chair rather than leaning on one arm. An uncomfortable look settled on her face. She was remembering, Dipper guessed. _Should've waited until morning!_ he thought, almost panicked.

"You don't have to explain if you don't want to!" Mabel immediately added for her brother, maybe a bit louder than necessary. She leaned forward so much that she almost fell on her grandma. "You don't have to tell us if you're not ready."

There was a small pause, followed by the slow shaking of a head. "No, I've been holding all of this back for forty some-odd years," she said as sternly as she could with her voice being rather shaky. Her face grew determined; it was a look that signaled she was ready to delve into the past again, at least on the surface level. She crossed her arms, leaning back in Stan's chair. "Alrigh', let's see here… It was 1972, a late night around April. I'd just woken up 'cause Shermy's son started crying 'cause'a yelling. So I put on a robe and went to see what was going on…"

" _Shh… shh… calm down, it's gonna be fine," Mrs. Pines whispered, trying to soothe the crying baby in her arms. She sighed and adjusted her robes. It was damn near eleven o'clock at night, and she wasn't exactly happy about being woken up. Even still, she exited out of her and her husband's room and walked into the living room._

" _You did_ what _, you knucklehead?!"_

 _Her husband, Filbrick Pines, was holding their son Stanley by the collar of his shirt. The former looked extremely angered. Stanley's twin brother Stanford also had a rather sour look on his face - something that was rather strange to see, especially when it was directed at his twin._

" _Stanley? What's goin' on in here?" Mrs. Pines asked, rubbing her eyes._

" _Wait, no, I can explain; it was a mistake!" Stanley said in an attempt to defend himself. Stanford threw his hands up in exasperation and went to the bedroom he and his brother once shared._

 _Filbrick wasn't buying it, and forcefully open the front door and shoved Stanley out of it. Mrs. Pines couldn't help but gasp. She didn't want to believe what was happening. Was he really going to…? Surely Filbrick had more sense than that…_

 _Unfortunately, he didn't. Filbrick towered over Stanley in the doorway, giving his son a authoritative and frightening look. "You ignoramus! Your brother was gonna be our ticket out of this dump! All you ever do is lie and cheat right on your brother's coattails. Well this time you cost our family potential_ millions _! And until_ you _make us a fortune, you aren't welcome in this household." Filbrick grabbed Stanley's duffel bag from beside the door and threw it at his son._

 _Mrs. Pines felt a pang in her chest as she looked at her son, confused and betrayed. He looked up, presumably at his bedroom window where his twin brother was. "What?! Stanford, tell him he's bein' crazy!" There was a brief moment of silence, followed by the sound of curtains being drawn. Stanley's face fell even more, making Mrs. Pines heart ache even more. What happened between him and Stanford? "Stanford? Don't leave me hangin'. High six?"_

 _After that, Filbrick slammed the door with all his might. The baby in Mrs. Pines' arms began to cry louder. "_ Fine _," Stanley's voice rang through the door. "I can make it on my own! I don't need you! I don't need anyone! I'll make millions and you'll rue the day you turned your back on me!" There was the sound of a car running that faded as the seconds passed._

 _And that's how she knew he was gone._

"When that door slammed, I couldn't help myself. He had just practically disowned Stanley, my little free spirit, without so much as a single thought! I put the baby on the couch, and…"

 _SMACK._

 _Filbrick stumbled back in anger and surprise. Mrs. Pines had slapped him hard across the face. "Are you insane?!" she whisper-yelled, as to not disturb the already upset baby in the room. "You haven't got a lick of sense! You just threw Stanley out to fend for himself on the streets! He hasn't even graduated high school yet! What makes you think he can survive on his own?!"_

" _It's what that free loader deserves! His brother's machine was going to make us millions._ Millions _, Virginia,_ millions _!" Filbrick shouted back, too caught up in his own stubborn anger to acknowledge the presence of the infant. The baby started to cry louder._

" _Who gives a shit that he broke Stanford's experiment? Machines can be rebuilt, money can be exchanged, but there's only one Stanley! He's your son, Filbrick, and you can't exchange that!" Mrs. Pines said, pointing an accusing finger at her husband. There were tears pricking at her eyes, but she didn't dare let them fall. That was a weakness to him, and she needed to be anything but weak at that moment._

" _As far as I'm concerned, he's no son of mine," spat Filbrick, turning around sharply. He stoically walked away towards his room, so obviously trying his best to pay no mind to the rest of his surroundings._

 _Mrs. Pines stared at her husband's back. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "Is that how much you actually care about this family? So what now? Are you going to find a reason to throw Ford out, too? Shermy's son?" she questioned, her voice raised._

 _Filbrick stopped in his tracks. "Don't test me, woman," Filbrick said, not daring to turn around. He clenched his fists. "Stanley is out of the picture until he can make up for his mistake. It's discipline." He started to walk again, until he once again stopped, facing his wife this time. His face was stern, his tone of voice unwavering and demanding. "And don't you_ think _of runnin' after him."_

 _With that, he walked into their room and slammed the door shut. Mrs. Pines glared at the empty space. She couldn't believe what was going on, wanting it to be some sort of bizarre nightmare. She wanted to wake up with her both of her sons under her roof, with everyone happy. But that was wishful thinking… Stanley was gone, Filbrick was angry, and Stanford was upset. She was scared. Oh, how she wanted this to be a nightmare…_

 _She was taken out of her thoughts by the crying child on the couch._ How stupid of me _, she thought bitterly._ After being angry at Filbrick for not caring about family, I forget about Shermy's son! _She quickly rushed over to the child, picking him up and shushing him soothingly. "It's okay, Phillie… It's going to be alright. He cares for them in the end… Oh, I know he does…" She looked out the window, wanting so badly to see Stanley's car, but alas, it had drove off just minutes ago. "I hope he does…"_

"After that argument, my first thought was to go and talk to Stanford, but he was so convinced it was Stanley that had destroyed his experiment. He wouldn't listen to reason, and I knew where it was going to lead. He was going to distract himself with work so he didn't hav'ta think about it. His father was the same way. Heh, so I guess I was already worryin' about his health. I tucked the baby in on the couch, with me sleeping on the ottoman. No way in Jersey was I sleeping with that fool that night."

Mrs. Pines looked down at the floor, her voice then full of regrets. She sighed. "I wish with all my heart I went after Stanley that night, but Filbrick wasn't one to go back on his words. I'm sure he would've sent both me and Shermy's son - your father, by the way - off just as easily as he did Stanley. I was the only one takin' care of Phil, so I couldn't risk that for him… So I stayed, and Stanley went and never came back."

Dipper and Mabel had been listening intently. Seeing a new perspective on things was interesting, especially considering both Stan and Ford tended to shy away from the topic of their parents.

There was a small pause in Mrs. Pines' story, so Mabel found her chance to speak of something that had been lingering in her mind. "...So, uh… did your husband ever regret throwing Stan out?" she asked, half sympathetically and half as if the backstory was the plot of some sort of teen drama novel.

Mrs. Pines looked at her granddaughter, a small sort of wistful smile ironically resting on her face. "Oh, of course he came to regret it. He was a big believer in tough love, but there's only so much tough love you can give before you cross a line. But… Filbrick was a stubborn man, too prideful to admit he made a mistake and let his son back in his household." She sighed, looking down at the floor once more, her smile fading. "Took that regret to his grave."

"So he's dead?" Dipper asked before he could stop himself, only to gain a small nod in response. He mentally slapped himself for being so blatant.

"...We're sorry," Mabel said awkwardly. Dipper could tell why: it wasn't necessarily clear from the context if she was upset about it or not. A small chuckle followed the statement. Mrs Pines rubbed her eyes, looking over at Mabel. "I 'preciate it, but there's no need for that. Doubt if he was alive he would be here, anyways. That man was too self-centered for his own good. He still cared, though; I know he did."

There was another silence. Tiredness was beginning to take over the atmosphere.

"Was there… anything else that happened?" Dipper asked.

"Oh, the years that followed were about the same. More arguments and ignoring each other, and managing to hold it off just long enough to go to gatherings and graduations and watch our little Stanford get awards." She sleepily smiled with pride at the memories. "It almost pained me to go to anything with family. I just couldn't help but think what would've happened if Stanley hadn't been kicked out. Oh, I bet he would've loved you two as babies." She paused, looking thoughtfully into space. "Now that I think about it, I think he did. Don't think there ever was a six-fingered hand that held you two."

With that mysterious statement, she stood up from the chair and stretched. "Well, that was a fun round of catch up, but I think it's high time we all hit the hay. It's probably way past you kids' bedtime, anyways. Know anywhere I can sleep?" she yawned.

Dipper raised his eyebrow. " _Don't think there ever was a six-fingered hand that held you two."_ He had a sneaking suspicion as to what that could mean, but he didn't want to bring it up at that moment. "Yeah… There is this one room… but you might want to roll up the carpet," he answered rather awkwardly. He jumped off the chair arm he was sitting on, walking over to the opening that led to the rooms of the house.

"Didn't Grunkle Stan put that in the attic?" Mabel asked. She slid of her chair arm, managing to gain the balance to land on her feet instead of falling. She put up her arms in victory, before making her way over to Dipper.

"I thought Grunkle Ford took it back out. I don't remember seeing it," Dipper responded, slightly confused. He shook his head, realizing the two would probably be there all night disagreeing about the location of the carpet. "You know what, it doesn't matter." He looked over to his grandma. "Follow me," he said, stepping out of the living room. Mabel followed alongside him, Mrs. Pines trailing behind the two.

He opened the creaking door to the room that used to hold the electron carpet. Besides that, the room was pretty much the same as when they last saw it. A neatly organized mess. He didn't want to point out the lack of carpet, because that meant he was wrong, but he could tell that Mabel noticed anyways. She gave him an "I told you so!" look. As he stuck his tongue out at his sister, he saw Mrs. Pines looking around the room curiously.

"So, what's this room for?" she asked the twins.

"Grunkle Ford's room. He usually sleeps in here, but he's been sleeping in Grunkle Stan's room because he's paranoid that Bill might come back and do something to Stan in his sleep," Mabel said matter-of-factly. "But that's not going to happen, of course. Just Grunkle Ford bein' Grunkle Ford."

For some reason, Mrs. Pines found herself smiling. Dipper couldn't exactly blame her. Mabel often had that effect on people. "Well, thank you, kids. I guess you two'll get me in the morning?" the elderly woman asked, walking over to the long, orange couch-bed.

"You bet! Goodnight, grandma!" Mabel said, a tired grin on her face.

"Goodnight, kiddos."

The twins then left the room, Dipper being the one to close the door… but not all the way. He thought for a moment. Should he ask… or should he just drop the question? It was late, probably almost 3:30 in the morning, he guessed. But it kept nagging at his head, and at this rate, he knew he wouldn't be sleeping. "Hey, Mabel, I'll catch up with you. I'm going to… get some water," he whispered.

"Alright, bro-bro. See ya on the flipside," she responded, making finger guns with her hands as she started her tired ascent into the attic. Thankfully, she was too tired to be suspicious of the action. Once Dipper heard the attic door close, he went back to Ford's room. Slowly, he opened the creaky door.

Mrs. Pines wasn't on the couch-bed. She was reading over some of her son's research papers in the dim moonlight. When she heard the door creak, her head automatically shot up, looking at her great grandson. Her gaze grew expecting.

"So, you knew Stan had to be alive this whole time?" Dipper blatantly asked, tiredly yawning. He knew he needed to sleep, desperately, but he also knew he needed this one answer to be able to do that peacefully.

Mrs. Pines just chuckled slightly. "Call it mother's instinct," she responded, returning her focus back down to the paper she was reading.

"But then… what was with the big reaction earlier?"

"Thinking it is one thing, knowing it is another. …It's complicated, kid." She looked up from her paper again, a serious look replacing the wistful one she held just seconds before. "You should get to sleep," she said, though it sounded much more like a demand than a suggestion.

Dipper did not question this. He had his answer, so he was one hundred percent ready to go back onto his stiff mattress and let the drowsiness carry him off. "...Goodnight, grandma,"Dipper said.

"Goodnight, Dipper."


	3. Part Three

_**A/N: Though this story was intended to be completely in Dipper's POV, I found that hard to do while also presenting a somewhat satisfying reunion of Ma and her boys. So, the POV breaks away slightly from Dipper's at points during this final part.**_

* * *

 **Part Three**

"Are you ready for _today_?!"

The first thing Dipper knew when he woke up, he was on the floor. He could already feel bruises forming from where he hit the ground hard, but he was used to it. Fighting paranormal beasts of all shapes and sizes had its advantages when it came to pain tolerance. Nonetheless, Dipper groggily forced himself to his feet and rubbed his eyes. As his vision cleared, he saw his twin sister bouncing excitedly up and down on the balls of her feet. She was already dressed and ready for the day.

"Bro-bro, today's gonna be a-ma-zing. I can't wait to see the looks on Stan and Ford's faces!" Mabel said, her tone indicative of her excitement. She looked so giddy, and Waddles oinked in agreement.

Dipper's mind was still waking up, however; he couldn't decipher what Mabel was trying to say. "What's today?" he asked, rubbing his eyes again.

"Did you hit your head or something? Oh, wait, scratch that. You totally did. My bad," she said with a slight laugh. Dipper, however, wasn't amused as he rubbed the small knot that was forming on his head. "Today's the day that Stan and Ford get to see their mom again!"

The memories of last night began to resurface in his mind. He gained a grin identical to his sister's. Quickly, he got dressed and the twins rushed downstairs into the kitchen, where they knew Stan and Ford would be.

The two old men were indeed in the kitchen, both fully dressed. Stanford "Ford" Pines was sitting at the kitchen table, reading over the contents of his third journal while enjoying a cup of coffee. His twin brother, Stanley "Stan" Pines, was over by the stove making his signature "Stancakes." They were essentially regular pancakes, only they were more than likely to have a bit of his body hair in them.

The two immediately noticed when Dipper and Mabel entered the kitchen. They both smiled, returning to what they had been doing previously. The younger set of twins sat down with their Great Uncle Ford at the kitchen table, practically bouncing up and down in their seats.

"You two sure got a lotta energy this morning," Stan noted as he put a large pile of Stancakes on a plate in the middle of the table. He took off his cooking mittens and set them on the edge of the table as he began to serve breakfast.

Ford nodded at his brother's statement, lifting his head. "They did sleep in rather late," he added, closing his journal and setting it beneath his seat, as he did not want to stain it.

"Must've been some deep sleep if they ignored all that noise going on last night," Stan commented grumpily. "Kept _me_ up a good few hours."

Dipper and Mabel gave each other knowing looks as Stan put breakfast on the plates in front of them. Mabel put her arm on the table and leaned forward on it. "Well, dear grunkles, what if we told you that we know exactly what was causing all the ruckus last night?!" she asked, her eyes closed for extra dramatic effect as she waited for their answer.

"Was it you two?" Stan asked boredly, crossing his arms.

"No," Dipper quickly responded as Mabel opened her eyes and looked up at Stan. "No, it wasn't us."

"Then, was it a monster?" Ford asked. He seemed to grow more alert, sitting up straighter while glancing around the room every couple of seconds.

The young boy sighed. "No! Okay, what if we just show you?" Dipper said, slightly annoyed and disappointed. Beside him, Mabel immediately jumped out of her seat. Her face lifted. "Stay put!" she said, grabbing Dipper's arm. She was prepared to rush out of the kitchen to retrieve Mrs. Pines, but her intentions were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Knock-knock, we're coming in!" said a familiar voice.

Two Mystery Shack employees entered the living area of the tourist trap. A teenager and a young adult man. Wendy and Soos.

Wendy simply waved at everyone as she entered, closing the door behind her. "Sup, dudes?" Soos greeted. His eyes then settled on the scene, seeing Dipper and Mabel about to leave the table. "Woah, were you guys like, in the middle of something?" he asked as Wendy walked up beside him. _What perfect timing_ , Dipper thought sarcastically to himself.

"Yes, yes we were!" Mabel said with enthusiasm, holding up both of her arms, dragging Dipper's up with them.

Wendy smiled at the two goofy twelve-going-on-thirteen year olds. "One last mystery to solve?" she asked, amused by Mabel's antics.

"More like resolve, but yeah, there's still one last mystery of Gravity Falls that we think Grunkle Ford and Grunkle Stan should see," Dipper explained, a small smirk spreading across his features. He gave Mabel a little nudge. His twin responded to the gesture with a wink.

Wendy raised an eyebrow at the response given, as well as the twin's not-so-subtle behaviour. She simply shrugged, however, a smile forming on her face. "Cool." Stan and Ford exchanged confused glances.

"We'll be right back!" Mabel announced, rushing off with Dipper, who she was still holding by the wrist. "Also, it might be a good idea to move to the living room!" she yelled behind her. Soon, the two disappeared upstairs, leaving the others in the kitchen to attempt to piece together what the twins were doing. Stan looked over at Wendy and Soos with his eyes narrowed.

"Hey, aren't you two supposed to be at work?"

"Slow business today, Mr. Pines."

Dipper and Mabel went up to the more or less hidden door that led to Ford's room. The two looked at each other and nodded. Dipper knocked on the door to the room. No response. He knocked again, only to be met with the same silence. _Are we really going to have to do what grandma did last night and just knock until she answers?_ Dipper somewhat bitterly thought himself as Mabel went up to the peep-hole.

"Psst, grandma!" Mabel said quietly enough to where those downstairs wouldn't hear. She knocked. "Graaandma!"

After repeating their process of knocking and calling for their grandmother, they could hear shuffling behind the door. The two immediately stepped back from the door and straightened themselves. After a few seconds, the creaky door opened, revealing a drowsy Mrs. Pines. "Do you mind? Us old folk need to sleep!" she said, yawning afterwards. After she rubbed her eyes a few times and blinked she realized who was in the doorway. "Oh, mornin' you two. Do you know where any coffee is?"

However, her face faltered when she saw the serious look on Dipper's face, which contradicted the extremely giddy one on Mabel's. From the two of them, only two words were spoken in that small time frame, and they were spoken by Dipper.

"It's time."

* * *

"Okay, so here's the plan," Dipper whispered as the three made their way down the stairs. "I'm going to go into the living room and sort of ease Stan and Ford into this. We don't need them having heart attacks by surprising them. Then, on my cue, Mabel, you're going to bring grandma into the living room." He stopped in the middle of the staircase and turned around to Mrs. Pines and Mabel. "Until then, you guys need to stay here. Got it?"

"Crystal clear!" Mabel said quietly as possible, the chatter of the others in the living room luckily covering her voice. She saluted her brother, who saluted back.

Dipper put his arm down quickly. He shifted his gaze over to Mrs. Pines, who seemed apprehensive. "Grandma, are you sure you can handle this? If not, we can wait a bit," he whispered in concern, remembering how upset she got last night.

"There's only one way to find out," Mrs. Pines mumbled in response, looking longingly at the entrance to the living room knowing her sons were in there. Dipper simply nodded.

He turned around, hearing that the others were still talking. _Hopefully they didn't hear any of that_ , he thought as he made his way down the rest of the stairs. "Okay… Well, here goes nothing," he muttered to himself as he entered the living room.

Soos and Wendy were sitting on the floor talking about who-knows what while Stan sat in his armchair, conversing with Ford, who was standing beside it. All the heads in the room turned towards Dipper, who looked as nervous as he felt. Stan raised an eyebrow. "Well?" he asked, followed by a moment of silence.

"So, Grunkle Stan… Grunkle Ford… Last night, there was someone at the door, knocking constantly until Mabel and I opened the door. There was… a woman at the door, saying she was looking for Grunkle Ford," Dipper started. He wasn't exactly sure how he was going to explain what happened without exposing the identity of the woman in question, but he knew he was passed the point of no return.

Ford looked down at the floor, putting his hand on his chin. "Curious… Dipper, was the woman human?" he asked, looking back up at his great nephew.

Dipper nodded at the strange question, slowly continuing. "Yes, she was human. She also knew who Mabel and I were, and Grandpa Sherman." Immediately, everyone's eyebrows furrowed at the statement. _Okay, okay, wrong thing to say, uhm…_ he thought nervously as his mouth continued to spit out the rest of the story. "When we got to know her, we told her about everything that happened this summer, and she told us some things, too…" He trailed off, knowing he'd dug himself into a hole. He mentally facepalmed.

Ford went up to Dipper, putting his six-fingered hands on the boy's shoulders. He didn't look furious, but noticeably agitated and worried about the younger twin's decisions. "Do you know how dangerous that was?! Dipper, that woman could've been a monster, or someone that doesn't take kindly to this family!"

Stan stood up from his armchair and walked beside his brother. "Hate to say it, but I agree with Poindexter over here." He jabbed his thumb in his twin's direction. "That was completely stupid. You probably sounded crazy talking about the stuff that happened this summer," Stan added.

"Dudes, I don't think he's done explaining!" Soos started as Stan and Ford began to scold Dipper for the misinterpreted events of the previous night.

"Yeah, I think you can at least give him some slack," Wendy agreed, but both of the employee's words fell on deaf ears as the commotion of the room began to grow.

Dipper knew he had to admit it now. There was no other choice. He stepped back two or three steps, trying to gain some space. "It was your mom," he blurted before things got out of hand. Those four words caused the room to fall silent. Ford let go of Dipper's shoulders and slowly let his arms drop to his side.

"Woah. Plot twist," Soos said, interrupting the silence. Beside him, Wendy simply held a shocked expression.

The Stan twins froze. Dipper didn't even want to imagine what was going on in their minds. After all they've been through, after all they left behind in the past, to hear that their mother was here? He figured he would be frozen in shock, too.

Ford was the first to move. Shock had drained from his face and was replaced with a stern stare. "Now's not the time for games, Dipper," he said.

"I'm not playing any games," the twelve-year-old said firmly.

"She should be _dead_ ," Ford stubbornly responded just as firmly. He crossed his arms.

Stan, however, looked at the entranceway to the living room, then back at Dipper. The man took a deep breath. "Did… Did she leave?" he asked, his voice low and soft, contrasting his usual tone.

Ford shot a bewildered glance at his brother. "Stan, you can't possibly believe what he just said, can you? Given our parents lifestyle and living situation, both of them would be dead by now, _including_ Ma," he said, causing Dipper to cringe slightly.

"Why would Dipper lie to us?" Stan asked in a scarily calm manner, raising an eyebrow. Ford's face visibly softened at the question, leading Stan silently to claim victory for the small argument. However, quietness took over the room in place of a hopeless debate.

Dipper took this opportunity to try and defuse the silence. "Uhm, to answer your question from earlier, Grunkle Stan, no. Uh, Mabel and I let her sleep in Ford's old room. She's still here," Dipper said awkwardly, rubbing his shoulder. Stan and Ford seemed unprepared to hear that response.

Apparently, Mabel took this as her cue to enact the "reveal." Sneakers and heels could be heard clanking against the creaky stairs, causing Dipper to turn around. Right there in the entrance way stood the proof of Dipper's claims, Mrs. Pines. Mabel stood beside her, smiling happily and gesturing towards her.

"We told her what happened over the summer so she would trust us, at least enough to tell us what happened on the day Stan was kicked out," Dipper explained, stepping out of the way so his grandma could interact with her sons.

The elderly woman gingerly left the side of her great granddaughter, cautiously walking up to her sons. There were tears forming in her eyes. She looked between the two, seeing how time had treated them. Their youthfulness had completely washed away, but then again, she didn't expect it to be there in the first place. It was just surprising. She looked down at the boys' hands, using the digits to confirm she knew which twin was which.

One, two, three, four, five. "Stanley," she whispered, and a small nod came in response. She shifted her gaze. One, two, three, four, five, six. "Stanford." That, too, was met with a nod. She smiled, tears beginning to fall down her cheeks. "My boys… Oh, my boys… I can't believe it's you…"

"Ma…" Stan breathed. He stepped closer to her, as if looking at her from a distance made her somehow not real. But real she was, alive and well.

"It's… really you, isn't it?" Ford muttered, mostly to himself. Dipper guessed he was likely berating himself internally for thinking his own mother to be dead.

Mrs. Pines stared at her two boys, a smile on her face. However, that smile quickly faded. The woman put her face in her hands, which immediately worried her two sons. Just as Stan reached out to comfort her, she spoke. Her old voice broke from all the tears. "I'm sorry… I'm so, so sorry… I'm so sorry to both of you…"

Stan and Ford gave each other worried glances, as if silently trying to figure out why she was so profusely apologizing. Never had either of them seen their mother so upset. They just assumed that she, like her father, bottled up her emotions in a heavily guarded safe, never to be let out.

"H-Hey, Ma, i-it's okay. You didn't do anything wrong," Stan reassured, putting a comforting arm around his mother.

Stan's attempt at consolation was met with his mother sobbing even harder. "I did," she spoke in a heartbroken tone. "I did, I did…" She looked up at her son with bloodshot eyes from her tears. "If only I had gone after you… or… or-" she turned to Ford "-if I had gave more of a shit about your life then maybe… maybe… Oh, but I was so afraid…" She put down her head in her hands again.

"You… You didn't do anything wrong," Stan reiterated, awkwardly rubbing her back.

Ford nodded slightly in agreement, though only really Stan saw the movement. "It was us who made stupid, childish mistakes… It's not your fault, Ma. If anything, it's ours." He gingerly grabbed onto her arm, slowly rubbing his thumb back and forth in an attempt to calm her down.

"We're just a bunch'a stupid knuckleheads, anyways," Stan said with a slight laugh, implying agreement with his brother's previous statement. "So what we've done shouldn't really matter in the long run."

There was a small silence, causing Stanley to fear he had said something wrong. Only, he failed to notice that the silence meant his mother had stopped crying. After a small moment, her sobs turned into small chuckles, which confused the twins. It was rather funny how she could so easily draw parallels between her sons and her great grandchildren. Fate was a mysterious mistress.

She looked down at the floor, slowly taking her hands away from her face. She put one of her hands on the twin's outer facing arms. "It's been forty years," the old woman said wistfully.

Stan and Ford looked at each other with small smiles on their faces. Finally, she had calmed down. She was happy. She was here. Looking down at their now smiling mother, Stan simply answered, "We know."

Smiling at the scene, Wendy crept past the three elder Pines, and made her way into the hallway. Soos did the same thing, only slightly less elegantly and a lot less quietly. Soon, the two workers stood next to Dipper and Mabel, who were also smiling happily. "We should probably leave them alone," Wendy whispered before walking away with Soos to the business area of the Mystery Shack.

Dipper and Mabel lingered a little longer. The three still in the living room seemed to be moving past the awkward outburst of tears, catching up with one another quite nicely. Mrs. Pines was remarking how much her sons had grown and aged, stretching up as high as her old body would allow. "Man, did you two get taller over the years, or did I just get shorter? I'm even wearin' heels, for crying out loud!"

The younger twins stifled a laugh as they followed Wendy and Soos into the Shack's gift shop. Dipper's mind began to wonder as they entered the boring reality of the slow business the Mystery Shack was (rather thankfully) experiencing that day. To think, if they had went along with his idea to ignore her, his grunkles wouldn't be having such a reunion in the first place! Mabel's overcaring nature really did come in handy, he supposed.

Another thought came into his mind. In less than seven days, he and Mabel would be sent on a bus out of the small town. Summer was over in a week. However, as he looked at Mabel and Wendy cheering on Soos doing the robot, he realized that thought didn't bother him much anymore.

So what if summer was ending? They might as well enjoy it while it lasted.


End file.
